Are Buildings Living Up to LEED Label?

On August 31, the New York Times ran a story entitled Some Buildings Not Living Up to Green Label by Mireya Navarro. The building referenced in the article was the Federal Building in downtown Youngstown, Ohio. When the building didn’t qualify for the Energy Star label granted by the Environmental Protection Agency based on its annual utility bills, it was suggested that buildings like these, which carry the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation, should have that certification taken away since, once they earn it, there’s no further incentive to continue to monitor and improve energy efficiency. The problem is that the qualifications for LEED and the qualifications for Energy Star are two different animals.

One could assume that articles like this are trying to throw stones at the LEED program but, in fact, there are many reasons why a building could be classified LEED but not perform at a level to qualify for Energy Star. For starters, LEED is rewarding building design for a wide variety of things like rain water management, redevelopment of brownfields, and proximity to public transportation. It hasn’t focused on details like tightness of the air duct system. Energy Star is principally focused on energy. I am not surprised to find out that some LEED accredited buildings are not living up to Energy Star standards because that was not the principal emphasis on the part of designers and builders.

So much of energy consumption falls outside of the building design and falls under building operations. There is only so much a designer can do to help manage the building operation. You can make the most efficient envelope possible, you can employ the best mechanical heating and air conditioning systems possible, but in the end, if the building operators leave the lights on at night and leave computers on all the time, there is nothing you can do.

This is one of the aspects I really admire in the Living Building Challenge. I am referring to the requirement for an educational component to make building owner/operators and occupants knowledgeable about best practices for energy efficiency. They also invite the public into the building to provide education on how the building and it occupants are reducing our consumption of energy and dependency non-renewable resources. A building designer can require infrared sensors be installed to automatically turn off lights but it is down to each of us in the end. We all need to develop better habits that we can implement both in the home and in our work environment to conserve energy and this is where education is the key.

It is important to remember that a program like LEED is adjusting itself to address these issues. The entire Green Movement is an organic process and it has to learn and adapt or it dies. The fact that LEED is now going to require a review of the energy bills over a five year period is a positive thing. There are tools in the marketplace that can help you measure and compare the changes to your energy consumption as you make changes to your daily practices. DOE-2 for example is an hourly, whole-building energy analysis program calculating energy performance and life-cycle cost of operation. It is a great tool to measure you own energy efficiency. No matter which method you choose to evaluate energy consumption, the important thing is to get started.

TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY
Opinions expressed in CertainTeed's blog and in any corresponding comments are the views and opinions of the original authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CertainTeed. All CertainTeed names, copyrights and trademarks are the property of CertainTeed or its licensors in the United States and other countries. Photos, charts, graphics and other information in CertainTeed's blog are not for commercial use.